Kevin Harvick reacts to last week's NASCAR penalty after claiming the pole at ISM Raceway

Kevin Harvick on the L1 penalty last week: “I don’t build the cars.”

Making a statement, Harvick is lining up for a comeback

Kevin Harvick was locked into the NASCAR Playoffs last week after taking the win at Texas. Following NASCAR inspection, that will was taken away. The #4 car was fitted with a rear spoiler that wasn’t in compliance with the NASCAR rule book.

This week, ISM Raceway marks the final chance for drivers to transfer into the Championship round. They’ll take four to Homestead. Right now, only one is locked in.

Harvick just opened up the weekend with a big statement. He’ll start the race from the pole position!

“We made some adjustments there at the end. I was able to drive it without screwing it up,” Kevin Harvick stated from the ISM Raceway media center after claiming the win.

“Everything went smooth. As you guys are quickly figuring out, it’s more about people than it is about cars. We’ve got a lot of good people and a lot of experience with Tony [Gibson]. Those guys did a great job of filling the roles.”

“You can’t drive a slow car fast. And you can’t beat good people. I just deal with the facts. I know what the plan is and we don’t look back.”

Kevin Harvick - Busch pole at ISM Raceway — PHOENIX, AZ – NOVEMBER 09: Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Busch Light Ford, poses with the Busch Pole Award after posting the fastest lap during qualifying for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Can-Am 500 at ISM Raceway on November 9, 2018 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Kevin Harvick reacts to the NASCAR penalty

Last week, Kevin Harvick’s rear spoiler was skewed to the right by 200-300 thousandths. The rear deck lid and spoiler are spec parts issues by NASCAR. That means the rear spoiler was modified or built by the team.

As a result, NASCAR handed out an L1 penalty and took the win away. Harvick was no longer locked into the championship race. In addition, the team was fined $75,000 and docked 40 points.

Also, for ISM Raceway and the championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway will see new roles for Stewart-Haas Racing employees. Both the car chief and the crew chief have been suspended for the rest of the season.

What was your reaction to the penalty?

“I just drive,” Harvick says. “That’s my job. You don’t pay my bills, I don’t owe you anything else.”

Do you perform better when your back’s against the wall?

“Try to. But, it’s been good for us to have challenges. So yeah, it’s fun.”

Rodney Childress said the rear spoiler tweak last week at Texas Motor Speedway was near insignificant.

Does it bother you that a minor thing results in people not giving you as much credit?

“Look, I don’t need credit. I don’t care about credit, I don’t care about what people think.”

“And, I don’t build the cars. I couldn’t tell you what’s on the cars, what’s good, what’s bad. That’s there job and I drive it.”

“I show up and do the best that I can. You’ve seen the statements from Stewart-Haas Racing. The best thing that show’s up are results on the race track.”

“I drive and try to do the best that I can and we go from there.”

Joey Logano has been going around saying that he’s the favorite for the NASCAR championship. What does Harvick think about those comments?

“I’m just worried about Phoenix,” Harvick concluded.

ISM Raceway is arguably Harvick’s best race track. He has 9 wins at the Phoenix speedway. 7 of those wins have come since the track surface was last reconfigured.

The following tweet was sent out by the crew chief from his vacation spot just after Harvick claimed the pole. (Childers isn’t really on vacation.)